I did two this year: Psychology and HHD
Subject: Psychology Units 1/2
Workload: Moderate, leaning towards high (but this varies from school to school - my school didn't teach us some dot points). Psych is a pretty content heavy subject (I'm looking at you, Unit 2 AOS 2), but if you keep on top of things (e.g. staying up to date with notes), it should be very manageable.
Was it interesting?: I certainly think so! Compared to my Year 10 subjects, I thoroughly enjoyed psych. The content was really interesting and applicable to real life in Unit 1 where we learnt about the brain, nervous system and mental health. I loved the research investigations because it was a break from the usual test format of other SACs. Heck, I even enjoyed research methods (which is a very unpopular opinion). Unit 2 was all about visual and taste sensation and perception and social psychology (e.g. attitudes, prejudice and discrimination, bullying). I didn't really like social psychology because I found it quite dry (but a lot of people loved this AOS at my school!). The good thing about it though is that you can understand the behaviour of others a bit better and have more of an awareness about things like bullying and prejudice, for example. Psych is great for people who don't want to study pure sciences and have a subject that's relatable to them.
What did you expect: I think going into psych, I wasn't expecting it to have so much content. For one SAC, I had over 100 flashcards with key terms. There were also a lot of opportunities to rote learn content but thankfully the exams are moving more towards an application based approach which I think is great.
What were you surprised by: I'd say I was surprised by the speed in which we had to go through the content. Sometimes we'd be learning new content the lesson before the SAC.
What was the social environment like: It was quite a chill class. We never had table groups in this subject so everyone sat with their friends. I sat with the Year 10s in my class (who I became friends with) and a couple of Year 11s.
What would you do differently/keep the same?: Quite a number of things. I would be more organised and on top of my learning. I definitely should've started revision earlier in some instances and planned it so that I could feel less overwhelmed. I would've tried to socialise a bit more with the Year 11s too, but I felt a good sense of belonging in the class anyway.
Subject: Health and Human Development (HHD)
Workload: I feel like it was less than psych, but maybe it's because I loved this subject. I'd say moderate, but it definitely varies from school to school.
Was it interesting?: I found that this subject opened my eyes to our healthcare system and health inequalities in society. I tried to enjoy every aspect of it but I didn't have to try too hard to do so! I especially enjoyed learning about prenatal development because we went to a hospital and saw a newborn baby (and a placenta haha) and we also got to take care of a baby simulator which was hellish, but potentially useful for later in life. It cried 20 times (does a real baby do this?!) during the night so I'm glad I only got it for one!
What did you expect: I was expecting it to be a chill subject (it was), with a more humanities style feel like geography and history. I thought it would be dry and too humanities-esque, so I was considering dropping this subject before I even began
. However, I enjoyed the content so much that I wouldn't consider dropping it at all.
What were you surprised by: Perhaps the class environment - it was chiller than chill. I will elaborate below.
What was the social environment like: Oh boy. It was crazy, but good crazy. I sat with another Year 10 on a table, while all the Year 11s sat (there was some standing and walking out of class too) together on different tables. This made social dynamics a little awkward at first, but slowly, I came out of my shell a bit. I felt a little segregated at the beginning, but got used to it quickly. This is because the Year 11s were all so funny and their conversations and antics were a fun distraction from work!
What would you do differently/keep the same?: I studied pretty hard in this subject and was on top of the work, so no regrets there. I guess I could've been a bit more social in class, but I was quite happy that I didn't have close friends in this subject so that I could work without talking too much.